Comparative studies of the heat production of different rat hepatoma cells in culture.

Heat production of H35, HTC, and RLC rat hepatoma cells were measured under identical conditions by differential thermal analysis. Production of thermal energy was determined after sedimentation at various cell densities. Heat production was dependent on cell density and was compared with heat production measurements in suspension cultures by using an isoperibol calorimeter. Thermal energy production of the well-differentiated H35 cell line was approximately three times lower than that of the poorly differentiated HTC and RLC cell lines. A relationship with carbohydrate metabolism is discussed.